The Kansas City Health Department ordered Sung Son Vietnamese Bistro in the 4100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue to shut down after an inspection found live roaches.

"They found roaches in the egg roll packages. They found roaches in the ice. It was a large number of roaches," said Jeff Hershberger of the Kansas City Health Department.

He said dead roaches had been found past inspections, but the department never closed the restaurant.

"At that time, we listed it as a critical violation, and then when we went back, they had cleaned the place up," Hershberger said.

He said it's a different situation when inspectors find live roaches.

"When you find live ones, that means your pest control isn't working," he said. "When you see one live one, you know there's many more hidden behind the wall."

Stephanie Ancona said she was surprised to hear that. She said she always thought the restaurant was clean.

"I thought it was a really nice restaurant," she said.

No one answered phone calls or the front door at the restaurant on Monday. A sign on the door that blamed the closure on plumbing was removed a short time after KMBC 9 News first knocked at the door.

"I think that's not right if they are lying to people about it," said Ancona. "I'm shocked and kind of disgusted."

Tom Foster owns Fidel's Cigar Shop near the restaurant. He said he was also surprised.

"It's sad to hear any small business being closed because of an issue like that," he said.

The Kansas City Health Department said that before Sung Son Vietnamese Bistro can reopen, it demonstrate that effective pest control methods are in place, they must request a re-inspection, and they must have no live roach activity witnessed during the re-inspection.